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5 Main Types of Dreams & How Lucidity Can Improve Them

02 Dec, 2016

Often times, dreaming feels as natural as sleeping itself. It feels so natural, in fact, that we forget to utilize the power of dreaming for improved health and even for fun.

With lucid dreaming, we have the power to take our dreams to the next level, and to bring our natural dreaming to powerful new heights. But before you can lucid dream effectively, you have to understand the kinds of dreams we usually experience.

Lucid dreaming is such an important and exciting part of life that we have come up with these 5 dream types to help you understand the dreams you are having and how lucid dreaming could make the more helpful and more fun.

1. Recurring Dreams

One of the most interesting dreaming phenomenas, recurring dreams are those dreams that we have over and over again. These dreams may be happy, exciting, boring, or even scary, but we have them for a reason.

Recurring dreams often point to unresolved issues that we have yet to deal with. And the odds are that you will continue to have your recurring dream until you deal with those root causes.

With lucid dreaming, you can alter the outcome of your recurring dream to learn from it and gain additional insight. By making different decisions within your recurring dreams, you can interpret their meanings and resolve the issues they represent.

2. Daydreams

We spend a good part of our lives day dreaming, and much like in a sleep dream-state, daydreams allow for a deeper connection with our subconscious thoughts and feelings.

Within a daydream, visualization is your greatest lucid dreaming tool. As you consciously change the pattern of your daydream, you are able to harness the power of your dream and imagine potential realities.

When you lucid dream in your daydreams (a time when you are not really asleep) you will likely find it easier to experience lucid dreams while you sleep.

3. Normal Dreams

Normal dreams are the dreams in which you have no idea that you are dreaming. Although this type of dream may seem contrary to lucid dreaming, the two can actually work hand in hand to improve the effectiveness of your dreams overall.

These normal dreams are experienced by everyone, and are essential to our emotional and physical health. But they are also important to lucid dreamers. Our normal dreams allow us to become familiar with the dream world and our unconscious selves, as long as you remember them.

So be sure to keep a record of your normal dreams!

As you lucid dream, you will become more capable of interpreting and interacting with the dream space, so even your normal dreams will become easier to understand.

4. A False Awakening

False awakenings are essentially dreams in which you think you wake up. In these dreams you may be dreaming one thing and then apparently awaken. The difference here is that the waking dream you are experiencing is still, in fact, a dream.

With lucid dreaming, you can recognize a false awakening and use it to experience a full blown lucid dream. Lucid dreams can take the fear out of your false awakening, and instead make it a positive experience.

5. Nightmares

Perhaps the worst, but often most fruitful dreams we experience, are nightmares. These terrifying dreams can have ay content, but it is often the feeling of the dream that is terrifying.

Interstingly, through lucid dreaming, you can actually overcome your nightmares by changing their outcome, or even just by choosing to finish the dream in a way that you can understand its meaning. Here's link to a fascinating podcast on Radio Lab that shares the story of a man who did this very thing. At the very least, lucid dreaming can take the edge off your nightmares, but it can also help you to overcome trauma and heal emotionally.